ERa_Connections

1. What do you think the author's purpose was in writing this passage (copied below)?

• A: Persuasive: the author is a nonfiction writer/scientist writing to persuade you that we are highly dependent on technology
• B: Entertainment: the author is a fiction writer who has written a story of a possible future breakdown in technology.
• C: Informative: the author is a nonfiction writer/scientist writing to describe the process of generating electricity.

2. What do you think this author means by "technology trap"?

• A: An invention designed to trap unsuspecting individuals
• B: A condition in which technology develops artificial intelligence and turns on society
• C: A device that people rely upon and leaves them in a dangerous position if it fails.

3. Describe a possible "technology trap", using the term as the author of this passage intended.

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Read the following section from the book "Connections", by James Burke, and answer the questions above.
"[I]nterdependence is typical of almost every aspect of life in the modern world. We live surrounded by objects and systems that we take for granted, but which profoundly affect the way we behave, think, work, play, and in general conduct our lives and those of our children. Look, for example, at the place in which you are reading this book now, and see how much of what surrounds you is understandable, how much of it you could either build yourself or repair should it cease to function. When we start the car, or press the button in an elevator, or buy food in a supermarket, we give no thought to the complex devices and systems that make the car move, or the elevator rise, or the food appear on the shelves. During this century we have become increasingly dependent on the products of technology. They have already changed our live: at the simplest level, the availability of transport has made us physically less fit than our ancestors. Many people are alive today only because they have been given immunity to disease through drugs. The vast majority of the world's population relies on the ability of technology to provide and transport food. There is enough food only because of the use of fertilizers. The working day is structured by the demands of the mass-production system. Roads are built to take peak hour traffic and remain half-empty outside those hours. We can neither feed, nor clothe, nor keep ourselves warm without technology."
Connections, James Burke, 1978, page 4-5